Brooks & Dunn have welcomed a new generation of music fans to their timeless classics with, 'REBOOT 2.' The project is a sequel to their highly-popular album from 2019, 'REBOOT,' which features a new generation of artists collaborating with the duo on some other timeless classics.

Granted full freedom to arrange the songs as they wished, some of the guest artists took songs to a completely different genre, while others preferred to keep it classic. Either way was just fine with Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn who shared they were inspired to create the 'REBOOT' projects after hearing some of today’s top artists cover their music.

“I give Luke Combs and Kacey [Musgraves] kudos for kind of getting this stirred up a little bit,” said Kix before detailing the two different approaches they took to covers. “Luke was doing ‘Brand New Man’ at his show and he just wanted to do it like we did it… he liked the song and like playing it like that.”

He continued, “Kacey, she took real liberties with ‘Neon Moon’ obviously doin’ her crazy thing on that which we thought was really cool too.” Added Ronnie, “That was probably the primary catalyst for doing what we did with Reboot 2— is what Kacey Musgraves did with ‘Neon Moon.’”

Fans of B&D and the REBOOT series will notice REBOOT 2 features some more “out of the box” versions of classics, which the guys say was a result of their only instructions to the artists — no rules.

“We let them know coming in — there’s no rules,” said Ronnie who credited Halestorm for bending the boundaries most with their version of “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.”

“I looked at Ronnie and was like ‘You gotta go toe to toe with her, man,'” Kix laughed. “And he did!” While they enjoyed the different approaches, it wasn’t always an easy road for them as they saw songs they’ve had from early in their career get bent and shaped into new works of art.

“With huge departures, you do have to step back and scratch your head a little like, ‘OK, how do we participate, how do we honor their vision too? Lzzy Hale and her brother have been headbangin’ with their band for 20 years — it’s not like they don’t know what they’re doin’. They’re a really good freakin’ Rock band.”

Through it all the guys trusted the process with ended up producing some of the most ear-catching, genre-bending versions of their songs which have captured the attention of an entirely new generation of music fans.

To hear more about the creative process behind 'REBOOT 2,' it’s inspiration and more, check out Broos & Dunn’s entire interview on Rob + Holly’s 'Friday Night Takeover' above.

Words by Moncia Rivera Interview by Rob + Holly